Red flag for birth control patch

From the Globe and Mail:
Two Canadian women have died and numerous others have suffered blood clots, heart attacks and other medical problems in the span of about four years after using the well-known but increasingly controversial Evra birth-control patch, according to a Health Canada report.

Although medical research has not concluded there is a direct relationship between the Evra patch and reported problems, concerns have been great enough to raise questions about the product's safety and prompt government health officials to issue warnings in Canada and the United States.

Advocacy groups have also sounded the alarm, with some saying the product should not be on the market.

"[Women] shouldn't use it. It shouldn't be used because it's a new product with no unique advantage," said Sidney Wolfe, director of the health research group at Public Citizen, a U.S.-based consumer group founded by Ralph Nader. ...more